Friday, July 20, 2007

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Stardust
by Neil Gaiman

1999, 248 pp.

Rating: 4/5






I was excited to read this after absolutely loving Coraline earlier this year. I also wanted to read it before the movie comes out in August. I did like the book quite a bit, but I didn't love it, and I wanted to love it. I'm not sure what happened--maybe I just expected too much.

Tristan lives in a village where there is a hole in the wall. It's guarded by the villagers because it leads into a fairy land. No one is allowed through. Once every 9 years, however, there is a festival where the fairy people and villagers do mingle.

Tristan is in love with the prettiest girl in the village, and wants to prove his love for her by getting her a star that they both see fall in the night sky. However, it has fallen in fairy land. His adventures in trying to obtain the star are magical, to say the least. We meet some very interesting characters from fairy land as well. Does he get the star and/or the girl? Read the book or see the movie to find out. Caution: Parents should read the book first as it's not for children. I wouldn't recommend it for under 16. These sections were few and far between, though.

Claire Danes plays one of the leads in the movie, and I knew this going into the book. She was TOTALLY right for this part. I could just imagine her saying her lines from the book.

I'll probably see the movie in the first night or two. Can't wait!



2 comments:

Derek Samford said...

Such a fantastic book. Extremely charming, just like everything else Gaiman has written. I got lucky, and got a sneak preview of the movie last night. I wrote up a review that should give you a good idea what to expect.

In short, it's absolutely brilliant.

Ana S. said...

I agree that Claire Danes is just perfect for the part :)